High chair carries a high value

Dear Collector: Enclosed are several pictures of an old high chair that may have belonged to my father’s grandfather. How old is it, and what’s its value?

Probably purchased from a Sears catalog in the early 1900s, this sturdily constructed wooden chair transformed into a wheeled cart. Originally selling for about $3, your family relic is now worth 100 times that.

Dear Collector: I have an 8 mm Keystone Brightbeam K-70 movie projector in working condition; is it valuable?

Retailed by Sears in the 1950s and ‘60s, this inexpensive piece of equipment probably sold for $30, about twice what it’s worth today.

Dear Collector: Am enclosing pictures of a “Buddy-L” delivery truck that I have had since 1924; can you give me any idea of value?

I was lucky to find a number of your “Baggage Line” tin vehicles in similar condition; both restored and original. In 2001, a toy in mint form sold at auction for more than $6,000, while several restored examples were offered at sale for an average of $2,000 each. From the look of yours, I’d say a value somewhere in between would be appropriate.

Dear Collector: What do you know about Fenton glass?

Not as much as Mark F. Moran, who just wrote “Warman’s Fenton Glass” (Krause, 2004, $24.99).

Dear Collector: I won this ceramic statue in the early 1950s at Riverview Park in Chicago. Is it worth anything?

The manufacturer, Gellman Brothers of Minneapolis, called your composition plaster (chalkware) doll a “Sport Girl,” though it’s sometimes referred to as the “Sweater Girl.” Produced in a variety of color combinations, with or without tinsel, this once popular carnival offering was in distribution for decades starting in the 1930s, and now has a value of about $25.

Dear Collector: An uncle of mine brought this coin home after WWII. I’m not sure which country it came from, can you tell me?

Bearing a date of 1925, this silver 2 zlote piece (100 grozy = 1 zloty) was minted in Poland. Not a rare coin, it’s worth about $8 in its present well-traveled state.

Dear Collector: Enclosed are pictures of an 1863 Remington rifle made in Italy; history and value please?

I should think that the “Made in Italy” mark on this replica black powder musket would be a dead giveaway that it’s a modern firearm. Almost certainly intended for use by Civil War enactors, this gun is no older than 20 years.

Dear Collector: I am in possession of a tiny plastic RCA Victor television that my mother told me she got from a cereal box in the late 1930s or early ‘40s. Would you know if this toy has any value?

You’re off by about a decade, because your Tom Mix TV was a promotional in 1950. This toy was part of a set which included a ring, and both were offered via the mail by Ralston for just 20 cents. Nowadays, your miniature viewer is worth $35-$50.

Dear Collector: Many years ago, my grandmother gave me these bronze Henry Wadsworth Longfellow books marked with “B&H” in a circle. I would like to know how old they might be, and if they have any value?

Attributed to Bradley and Hubbard Manufacturing of Meriden, Connecticut, your circa 1920 bookends have a current value of $150.